


October 31, 2016

by AidanChase



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Halloween, Slice of Life, family holidays, large family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 10:00:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8441320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AidanChase/pseuds/AidanChase
Summary: It's the Potters' turn to host Halloween and they have twenty-four guests.An Everyone Lives AU work.





	

**Author's Note:**

> There are ten-dozen-and-one reasons I wrote this fic. None of them are happy. So I won't spoil this fluffy fic with them. Just know that on a quiet, cold, and lonely Halloween night I needed a candle, and this was my candle.
> 
> On a cheerier note: Is James's middle name Fleamont? It seems a tradition for eldest sons to take their father's name for their middle name. I hope to Merlin that James's middle name is Fleamont. JKR please confirm.
> 
> On an AU note: I don't actually know if Albus Severus will be named Albus Severus. It's such a hotly debated fandom topic, and I have a lot of ideas for changing it while keeping in line with JKR's intentions for the name. For now, I'll keep it. But in three years, when I arrive at the Deathly Hallows epilogue, I may not be committed to it.

When James Fleamont Potter woke on Halloween morning, 2016, he could already smell his wife's intensive baking. The house was permeated with the scent of pumpkin and cinnamon, and his stomach rumbled. He climbed out of bed with a groan--his joints ached more and more with the increasingly cold weather--and put on his robe.

He found Lily in the kitchen, just tying ribbons onto the packages of baked sweets for the grandchildren. There was one for James Sirius, one for Albus Severus, one for Lily Luna, and one for Edward Remus.

"Teddy still gets a box of sweets?" James asked as he set about transfiguring the ribbons from their pastel colors, left over from the Easter holidays, to orange and black with glowing jack o'lanterns.

"Why shouldn't he?"

"He's eighteen now. He's an adult. You don't make sweets for Sirius or Remus."

Lily tied off the ribbon on her granddaughter's and set it next to Albus's box. "Teddy will get a box of pastries from me every Halloween, Christmas, birthday, and Easter until the day I find I can no longer bake."

James shrugged. "Alright. I just think it's unfair to leave Harry and Ginny out then. Besides, Teddy's more like your nephew than your grandson." He used his wand to Vanish the flour dusting the counter top.

Lily tapped her wand against the open kitchen window and three owls flew to her. She gave one the box for James; one she gave two boxes, for Lily and Albus; and the last received the box for Teddy. "He's Harry's godson, that makes him our grand-godson and that's good enough for me." 

James wrinkled his nose. "It still smarts that Remus picked Harry over me."

"I think Harry's proven to be a wonderful godfather."

"But I could've been his godfather."

"It's been eighteen years, James, let it go."

James would not. He brought it up every Christmas dinner, and probably would continue to do so until Lily stopped making Teddy holiday sweets.

With the Halloween sweets sent off, James and Lily spent the rest of the day preparing the house for guests. As much as James missed his parents, and Lily's parents, he was the tiniest bit grateful he and Lily had never had to worry about where to spend the holidays. It had always been them, Harry, Remus and Sirius. Now, Harry was married, Remus was married, and Sirius was reconnected to his family. That meant that James, Molly Weasley, and Andromeda Tonks all fought for where to host which holidays. This year, James had won the fight for Halloween. He would let Molly and Andromeda duel for Christmas, which was always a bigger affair as all the children were home from Hogwarts.

Sirius and Regulus arrived first, as they always did. Sirius never missed a chance to help decorate the house, and Regulus never missed a chance to criticize Sirius's decorative decisions. James brought in pumpkins from the garden, and within a few hours, the three of them had carved about twenty large jack o'lanterns in all manner of faces and patterns. Lily, knowing the decision of where to put the pumpkins risked a fight, called Regulus into the kitchen to help her with the roast turkey.

Bill and Fleur were next, bringing a French dish that Bill had gotten quite good at, and they now brought to every family holiday. While Bill took the food to the kitchen, Fleur set about rearranging James and Sirius's decorations.

When Remus, Dora, and Teddy arrived, they found Fleur arguing with Sirius in the entryway about where to hang a set of garlands. 

"If you 'ang them zere," Fleur was saying as the Lupins stood in the doorway, unable to maneuver around the clustered hallway, "ze will be in ze when people walk in. You are making it too crowded. Ze space must be open."

"It's festive," Sirius snapped back. "Remus, back me up."

Remus looked up at the orange and gold garlands draping across the doorway, just high enough to avoid his head. "They seem fine to me."

Teddy looked up at them too, and his brown hair lightened to orange as he did. "I don't know. It feels crowded."

"You're only agreeing with Fleur," James said, "because you want her to like you so you can keep dating Victoire."

Teddy's hair turned pink.

By the time decorations were sorted, Teddy's hair was its usual turquoise, though it sometimes turned brown when he spoke to either of his parents. James had noticed it would also, on occasion, turn black when Teddy spoke with Harry, but it was always blue for James. James had never mentioned it to Lily or Remus, but it added fuel to his bitterness about Harry being Teddy's godfather.

Guests continued to arrive until the house felt exceptionally crowded, decorations aside. James and Lily were prepared for this, however, and stretched the dinner table from the dining room into the kitchen. Molly Weasley helped Lily set places, while James and Dora put food onto serving plates and spread the food out along the table. It was almost like a proper Hogwarts feast, James thought, as he surveyed the table when it was done. At least, as much like Hogwarts feasts as he remembered.

"Is Harry here yet?" Lily asked, moving her way from the crowded kitchen, into the slightly less crowded dining room.

"Ginny had practice late tonight," Ron shouted at her, from the kitchen. "They should be here soon."

"Should we start without them?" Ted Tonks asked. He was already standing at his seat, his wife beside him.

"Dad, no, we're not starting without Harry," Dora frowned.

"Ah, why not?" Fred Weasley asked. "It's not as if he's the Chosen One anymore. No need to wait, unless we think Voldemort's going to show up at dinner--"

The unmistakable sound of the front door opening silenced the crowded dining room, though there was still a gentle hum of chatter in the kitchen. James stuck his head into the hallway and smiled at his son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren.

Ginny was taking Albus's coat, and Harry was reaching for Lily Luna's coat, but she'd seen her grandfather. She shrieked and ran to him.

James caught her around the waist. She squealed as he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. "You're getting too big for this," he said. "Next year you'll have to carry me."

Lily Luna laughed and kicked James's stomach so hard, all the wind left his lungs. He set her down and pulled her jacket off and her Holyhead Harpies beanie. "Find your Gran," he said, and she ran off as quick as a Snitch.

James handed the winter clothing to Ginny, who kissed his cheek. "Happy Halloween."

"You too. Better hurry. Angelina might decide she's hungry enough to eat the two of you instead of waiting for Lily to give the go-ahead for the feast."

Harry took the winter clothes from Ginny and hung them in the coat closet. Then he hugged his father hello.

"Alright trip?" James asked.

"I swear, if Lily doesn't slow down, I'll splinch her one of these days. It's like trying to Side-Along a hummingbird." But Harry was smiling as he said it.

It was like looking into a mirror twenty years younger. It always had been for James, but it became more and more striking as Harry grew older how alike they were in appearance. And yet, how like his mother he was in personality, James thought. Fierce, strong, and so very brave. Brave enough to make sacrifices James never could. He was, truly, a wonderful father, and James was prouder of Harry than of anyone or anything else in the world.

They went into the dining room together, and Fred, George, and Angelina let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. Everyone took seats around the table and began to help themselves to the large dinner.

James sat by Lily, and Harry and Ginny were beside them. Ron and Hermione were across from Harry and Ginny, then Fred, George and Angelina, and across from them were Bill, Fleur, and Percy. Then there was Molly and Arthur, and Andromeda and Ted. Then Remus and Dora, and Teddy beside his mother. Sirius and Regulus were across from them, and at the very end were the kids, Lily Luna, Albus, Rose, Hugo, and Roxanne. This was the first year all of Bill and Fleur's children were away at Hogwarts, but it was the first year Teddy was back from Hogwarts. Next year Victoire would be back, and Albus and Rose would be gone. Next year Angelina would have had her third child, and there'd be a new infant at the table. James didn't know whether the baby was Fred or George's, and he wasn't even sure Fred or George knew. But it didn't seem to matter to those three, so he tried not to let it bother him, either, especially because he knew Molly had said several things about it already.

Even as Albus spilled a pitcher of milk onto the floor, even as Andromeda and Molly began vying for Christmas-hosting rights, even as Fleur and Regulus bickered over right shade of orange for the centerpieces, even as Teddy leaned forward to ask Harry to pass the potatoes, and his hair turned messy and black, James didn't feel an ounce of anything but sheer joy to be here with everyone. He reached under the table for Lily's hand. She took his and smiled at him. They'd been through so much, and he was so lucky to have this. He was so happy to be here, with his wife, with his son, with his family. This was all he needed.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments, headcanons, and critiques always appreciated.


End file.
